


A Thousand & ONE Reasons

by Lady_Felucia



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), kylux - Fandom
Genre: Bottom Hux, Comedy, Equivalent to a drunken quickie wedding in Vegas, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual kylux, Fluff and Humor, Funny, Gay, I couldn't share a bed with Kylo Ren without wanting some, Kylux - Freeform, Living Together, M/M, Marriage, Multi, Naive Space Boyfriends, Out of Character, Romantic Fluff, Short Story, Space Gays, Star Wars - Freeform, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) - Freeform, Top Kylo Ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 23:04:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11367477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Felucia/pseuds/Lady_Felucia
Summary: A night of drinking can often lead to fun, silly, and sometimes romantic moments between friend.But when the person you're drinking with is more enemy than friend, a whole slew of other situations can arise, some of them much, much less than pleasant.On such a night, two men of The First Order, Kylo Ren and General Hux, partake in just one drink too many; and when they wake up, they discover the shocking consequences of their apparent lack of restraint.Can they live with the results of that one fateful night--and with each other, without killing one another?





	1. Chapter 1

Ren had thought he knew all about regret, but as it turned out, he knew nothing at all.

He was standing in front of Supreme Leader Snoke. At his side was Armitage Hux, his fellow commander, and General of The First Order.

Coming in here to face Snoke, after coming back from their mission on Coruscant, was hard for both of them. Hard because they had something to tell him; something that was sure to make him angry.

Ren and Hux had -- gotten married.

On the last night of their journey, just before they were due to head back in the morning, several of Hux's officers suggested they 'celebrate' the success of their mission with a couple of drinks.

All things considered, Hux's officers had actually bowed out of the informal celebration quite quickly, being unable to withstand the strength of the alcohol on Coruscant. Hux, wanting to look superior to his subordinates, had kept on drinking, even when he knew he was well past his limit.

Ren, not to be outdone by Hux, had matched him drink for drink, refusing to let the redhead get the advantage over him.

Late at night found the two alone, and extremely intoxicated.

The men had been rivals with each other ever since they had met, although, quite recently, there had been a small change in that situation.

A couple of months back, they had slept with each other. Unlike the present time, no alcohol had been involved at all; rather, a crushing, profound sense of physical need, and loneliness.

The morning after, they had talked about their actions, and both agreed that they had made a mistake, and foolishly let the heat of the moment overtake them. That had been months ago, yes, and yes, they hadn't gotten together in /that/ way since.

But.

There was a soundness, tuneless tension that existed between them now, where none had been before. They both kept it to themselves, and repressed any impulses they may have had--until the last night of that mission.

In truth, Ren did not remember much of that night, past his last few drinks. He vaguely remembered stumbling off of the ship with Hux and into the city, and the two of them drunkenly wandering into what appeared to be an all-night temple of sorts.

After that, almost everything was a complete blank.

Ren woke up the next morning, on the floor. He knew he was in Hux's on-ship office by the hideous carpet design that was staring him in the face. The early morning sun was shining cruelly in his face--and a handful of papers had been stuffed underneath his head.

Squinting against the light (and his headache), he had picked up the papers and held them out in front of his face, struggling to read them.

When he COULD finally focus on the words, what he read there stopped his heart cold in his chest.

"This Document is to Certify that:

Kylo Ren  
and  
Armitage Hux

Were lawfully MARRIED,  
On this day of--"

. . . Married?

He did a double take, then read over the entire document again, slowly and carefully.

. . . Married?!

He sat up and looked around. Hux was sleeping in his chair, his arms on top of his desk, greatcoat drawn over his head.

Ren had woken him up in a panic, and made him read over the wretched, lying piece of paper.

Which, it turned out, wasn't 'lying' at all.

They had, somehow, gotten legally married.

So, upon their return, they stood before Snoke, each sweating buckets as they told him of their mistake, and requested permission to leave the base and obtain a divorce.

When they finished their story, ending with the request, Snoke looked at them both for a long time, head tilted, small, glittering eyes looking at them in that insidious way that was unnerving.

"No," he said, after a long spell of silence.

Before either could protest, he said,

"I have had to warn the both of you, time and time again, about the proper way to conduct yourself when you are off of base. You're not just presenting yourselves, gentlemen; you're representing Me, AND the entire First Order. That calls for you to behave in a certain way, and that way does NOT include intoxication and rash decision making. You two--I order you to remain married for one year."

"One YEAR?!" They both exclaimed almost simultaneously, looking at him in shock.

"Yes, one year. And who knows; perhaps the situation will finally demand that you both learn to work together, and mature together. Now, leave me."

That had been three days ago, and both men had been in an angry, shell-shocked daze since then. They had thought, at first, that it wouldn't be so bad if they could just maintain separate quarters, and go about business as if all was normal. 

Yet Snoke caught wind of this and resolved to rectify their separation.

Ren has been on his way back to his quarters that evening, and when he finally got there, he was surprised to find that the door was blocked off, sealed and guarded by two stormtroopers.

"OV-2168," he said, addressing the one nearest him, "What is the meaning of this?"

The man took in several gulps of air, before saying, nervously,

"My Lord, we were ordered to stand guard by Supreme Leader Snoke. He -- had given strict orders that you are no longer to enter into here," he said, flinching at the end of his explanation from the blow he felt sure was coming.

When Ren remained calm and said nothing, the other Trooper, WQ-9754, said timidly,

"Lord Ren, Sir, might I be the first to offer you my sincerest congratulations on your nuptials to General Hux."

Hearing the words struck a fresh swath of horror and disgust into Ren's heart. Apparently this wasn't something Snoke intended to be kept a secret, if even the lowest ranking members of The First Order knew about it.

Instead of acknowledging the congratulations, he merely said, gruffly, "What about all of my items, in the room?"

"Supreme Leader had a team come in earlier and move everything into The General's quarters," said OV-2168. 

Ren sighed and left them, not quite feeling up to Force choking them like he was expected to do.

As he walked, he had time to think.

Sleeping with the redhead even that ONE time had been a serious error in judgement. Allowing himself to drink with the General had been another.

But this . . . 

This was beyond anything he could have imagined. And the fact that Snoke was going to force them to wait to fix their mistake was more horrifying than anything he could have dreamt up.

He plodded down the hallways on feet that felt weighed down with lead, until he reached The General's door.

Or, rather, THEIR door.

He stood there for a long time, before he could bring himself to knock.

Hux answered it immediately, and looked at Ren with a resigned, sour expression.

Seeing that face made Ren decide that, if he was going to be stuck with Hux indefinitely, he was going to have some fun with him.

"Hi, darling; I'm home," Ren trilled in a sing-song voice, giving Hux an exaggerated smile. He held out his arms and said, with a fake pout,

"What, you're not going to carry me across the threshold?"

Hux went to slam the door on him, but Ren caught it mid-swing with his mind, and swung it back the other way, forcing Hux to jump back a few steps.

Ren walked past him and looked around Hux's (and now his) living room. The floors and the couch was loaded down with a variety of boxes and bags, all belonging to Ren.

"So -- husband," Ren said, noticing how funny the word felt in his mouth, "This uh, this situation, is not exactly ideal, and --"

"That's an understatement," Hux interrupted with a scowl. 

Ren ignored him and continued, "--and since this is entirely your fault, maybe you can find it in yourself, to help take away some of my stress? Like, take your clothes off and "help" me, for a while?"

Hux looked at him as though snakes were coming out of his ears.

"MY fault?!", Hux exclaimed, his face burning dark with anger. "I didn't FORCE you to have all those drinks, did I?! And I certainly didn't FORCE you to drag me to that temple and marry me! And, honestly, are you joking? Take my clothes off? What makes you think I even want to TOUCH you, considering the mess YOU have us in right now?!"

Ren folded his arms across his chest. "I was joking, obviously, Hux. And forgive me if I'm wrong, but you certainly weren't shy about touching me that one night."

Hux's face reddened to a shade that Ren hadn't known existed, and he prepared himself for the outburst he was sure to come.

But Hux surprised him by, instead, speaking very softly.

"That was a mistake," he said calmly, his eyes lowered to the floor. "And so was this. But seeing as how we can't do anything about it right now, the least we can do is try and make the best of the situation. Okay?"

And, miraculously, instead of putting up his usual combative front, Ren merely shrugged his shoulders, and said "Fine. Agreed."

"Okay," Hux said, sighing a little. "How about I help you unpack some of this stuff?"

Ren nodded, and they silently began unloading the boxes that sat scattered around the living room, putting Ren's clothes, books, and other personal affects together with Hux's things, neatly.

When they got to the very last box, Hux opened it gingerly--then nearly dropped it when he got a look at what was inside.

A black, charred hunk of rubble stared out at him. Looking closer, he could barely make out a melted mouthpiece, and two sunken holes where the eyes had been.

Ren came from behind him, taking the item out of the box and cradling it to his chest with a tender smile.

"There you are," he said to it, stroking his fingers gently over the tarnished metal. "I was worried they'd damage you when they packed you up, but you look just fine."

"Oh, Maker," Hux said, weakly. "Is that what I think it is?"

Ren nodded proudly. "Hux, say hello to my grandfather, Darth Vader. Grandpa, this is General Hux, my temporary husband and your new grandson-in-law," he said, as he set the dilapidated helmet down on Hux's coffee table.

Hux was at a loss for words, in regards to the helmet. And the way Ren was talking to it . . . 

"Please, Ren, PLEASE tell me that your grandfather's spirit isn't going to haunt my quarters."

"OUR quarters, Hux." Ren turned to the helmet and shook his head. "He's some husband, huh?" Ren asked it, jerking his thumb back at Hux. "So generous."

With that, Hux had decided that he'd about reached the limit of his tolerance. He strolled into his kitchen and brought a bottle of liquor from the cabinet. He contemplated getting a glass, or ice, and decided that either would only prolong the unconsciousness that he hoped to achieve.

He took several long swallows and then took the bottle into the living room, throwing himself down on the couch.

After a moment, Ren sat down beside him, quietly. "Do you really think that drinking is wise, after what happened the last few times we drank together?"

Hux started to laugh, the humor and the alcohol hitting him at the same time. "What else can possibly happen, that could be worse than this?!"

Ren laughed with him, taking the bottle and downing a long swallow himself. "True."

They continued to drink, and just before Hux blissfully passed out, Ren asked him, 

"So what side of the bed am I sleeping on?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Get off of me," Hux muttered, giving him a good shove with his free hand. It didn't do any good; Ren was heavy, and quite soundly asleep.

It was about a week later, and Hux was still not properly adjusted to living with Ren. The man was loud, and horribly messy. Hux had to mentally brace himself to walk through his doors if he knew that Ren had made it home before him, because he was apt to walk in on clothes, food, papers, and everything else recklessly strewn about all over the place.

And there was the eating. Hux was glad that Snoke provided his top officers with an essentially unlimited food budget, because if he hadn't, Hux would have spent every credit he had just replacing the food that Ren went through like wildfire. Hux was grimly fascinated, at the amount that Ren could put away. How he ate so much yet remained so fit and trim, was a mystery to Hux.

Sleeping in the same bed was a far from ideal situation, made awkward by the fact that Ren insisted, in the beginning, that he be allowed to sleep totally nude, like he had always done in his own quarters. Hux had since convinced him  
to at least sleep in a pair of shorts, but until he had, there had been several nights when Hux would roll over and see much more of Ren than he wanted to.

But it wasn't just the partial nudity, it was also the restlessness.

Ren tossed, turned, and changed positions around the bed all night long. And on the rare occasions he was still, he made up for it by talking, relentlessly, in his sleep. Mostly nonsensical words; other times he seemed to be having full-length conversations with his grandfather, whose helmet in the living room STILL genuinely creeped Hux out.

Tonight was one of Ren's restless nights, and at some point he had rolled over far enough to land on Hux's right arm--and stay there.

Hux sighed, and noted the way his arm curled under Ren was already getting that painful tingling sensation.

An idea came to him.

He was close enough to the edge of the bed to reach underneath it, which was where he kept his blaster. He cocked it in his hand, aimed carefully, and shot at the clock that was resting on the ledge above Ren's head.

That did it. The noise of the clock shattering snapped Ren wide awake, and he rolled off of Hux's arm. He moved so fast, in fact, that he not only rolled off of Hux's arm, but off of the bed entirely.

He hit the floor with a loud thud, and a string of half-asleep curses.

Hux, on the other hand, couldn't stop laughing. He sat up in bed and shook out his deadened arm, laughing loudly and helplessly the entire time.

Ren's head popped up from the edge of the bed, and he glared fiercely at the redhead.

"What in the holy hells are you DOING?!", he exclaimed angrily, as he climbed back into the bed. "Were you trying to give me a kriffing heart attack?!"

Hux calmed down enough to explain that Ren had been asleep on his arm, then "apologized" for scaring him.

"You didn't 'scare' me," Ren said immediately, indignantly. "You startled me, is all."

"Startled. Right," Hux answered, as he leaned back over and put his blaster back under the bed. "Do me a favor and remind me to requisition a new clock tomorrow."

He turned over on his side with a grin.

"Goodnight, dear," he said in a mocking tone.

Ren didn't answer, but he laid back down as well, his mind racing with ideas. After a while, he, too, smiled.

He would get revenge on the General in the morning.

\---

Ren sat in the empty conference room with Captain Phasma, tapping his fingers against the table in impatience. The meeting was set to start in twenty minutes, and Ren, being close to the conference room, had decided to just go in and wait. Captain Phasma was there as well, having just returned with her troops from a month-long training camp in the outer rim. She was set to give a report on her progress with the men, and was looking through her notes intently.

Ren wouldn't exactly say that he had any 'friends' in the First Order. His rank, and his temper made that a sort of impossibility. The most he could manage, it seemed, were the few individuals whose presence didn't demand a Force-choke.

Phasma was one of those people for him.

Having just come back to the base, she had not yet been made aware of the marriage between Ren and Hux; but was quickly filled in by several officers on board the ship.

She, of course, took advantage of the surprising news to lightly tease her not-a-friend-friend.

"I can't think of two people who belong together more than you both," Phasma said, smirking at him. "So do I call you Lord Hux, now, or do I call him General Ren?"

"Neither," said Ren, groaning. "This isn't forever; Snoke is just making us wait a year, before he grants us a divorce."

"An entire year?", she asked in disbelief. "You must have really made him angry, for such a long punishment.

Ren nodded, but said nothing.

In all honesty, being married to Hux wasn't all that bad. 

The two were more like roommates than husbands, and, as much as Ren didn't like to admit it, he enjoyed Hux's company.

Even though the redhead could be SO uptight about certain things.

Like with the food. Ren didn't think that he ate THAT much, yet Hux almost threw a fit every time he opened the conservator door. Hux didn't seem to understand that Ren had to keep up his imposing bulk, and muscles, and eating was one of the ways he did that. Ren was proud of his body, and went to great lengths to maintain what he thought of as perfection.

Which was one of the reasons why he liked to sleep naked--but Hux had quickly put the kibosh on that.

"You've already seen me naked, before, Hux. And I've seen you naked, too. So what's the big deal about me sleeping like that?", he had argued with the redhead.

But Hux had refused to relent, citing that if Ren didn't at least wear a pair of shorts, Hux would make him go sleep on the couch.

And Ren didn't want that. Not only because the couch would be uncomfortable to sleep on, but because he was sure Grandfather wouldn't appreciate the lack of clothing, either. Lord Vader had been all about regulation and uniformity, after all.

So he complied with the shorts--yet Hux STILL found ways to complain. Last night had been ridiculous. Ren had sleep rolled over onto Hux's arm, and instead of just pushing him off like a normal person ((Ren didn't believe for a second, Hux's claims that Ren was 'too big' to move)) he had scared the daylights out of Ren by shooting that clock.

More people began to file in the room, and Ren sat up straight when Hux walked in and took his place to Ren's left, at the head of the table.

Things started off slowly, at first. Captain Phasma stood up and gave her report on the progress she and her men had made in training the new batch of recruits, and the triumphs/challenges that she had encountered in the process.

Without her mask, her voice was quite pleasant to listen to, low and steady and sweet. Still, though, her speech went on for a very long time, and several people in the room struggled to maintain focus on her words.

Ren didn't mind, though.  
It gave him time to think.

When Phasma finished, Hux thanked her and stood up himself, standing in front of the holographic charts he had brought and preparing to give his always-long-winded talk about the First Order budget.

Ren was barely able to keep the smile off of his face as the man droned on and on.

In the middle of a sentence, Hux's hat fell off of his head. He stopped speaking for a moment and looked surprised, as he bent over to retrieve it and place it back on his head.

Halfway through his next point, his hat fell off again.

This time when he retrieved it, he set it down on the table, rather than his head, and continued, undaunted.

For some reason, the holo-chart that Hux was referencing began to flicker in and out, in and out, until eventually it shorted out altogether. Hux went to the projector and tried to fix it, but to no avail. So he apologized and decided to continue solely based off of his notes.

As he went to sit back in his chair, something else strange happened. 

The chair moved.

It didn't just move, it all but flew to the wall, just as Hux was getting ready to sit in it. It had happened too fast for Hux to react, and before anyone knew what was happening, the General had hit he floor on his behind.

Several officers jumped up in concern, and a few had their hands over their mouths, to keep from  
laughing.

Ren was the perfect picture of a loving, worried husband, going to help Hux off of the floor, being uncharacteristically gentle and soothing.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?", he asked him loudly, helping Hux to brush off his uniform.

Hux blushed a deep red. He had yet to acknowledge his marriage in public, even though everybody already knew, of course. It would have been wildly out of character for him to do so, and made him uncomfortable.

And Ren knew this.

"I'm fine," he muttered angrily, going to retrieve his chair. 

Ren grabbed his hand and yanked him, hard, over to his side.

"Darling, I think that chair might be too dangerous for you. Here, come sit by me," ; and before Hux could protest, or get away, Ren had pulled him down onto his lap and held him there in an unbreakable grip.

By now several officers were turning purple in their efforts to hold back the laughs, and everyone was trying (and failing) to avert their eyes elsewhere. 

Struggling to keep his composure, Hux said to the others, calmly, "I believe that's enough for now. We'll continue this meeting further tonight. Dismissed."

Everyone left the room, Phasma last, her eyes alit with the smile she didn't dare let spread to her lips. She pressed the button and closed the door, quietly, behind her.

As soon as it closed, Ren let loose his arms from around the General.

"You know, you feel quite nice on my lap," he said in a sarcastic tone. "I'm going to have to put you ther--"

He was cut off by a vicious blow to the jaw, Hux's fist pounding into him with surprising speed.

His hand flew to his mouth, and he spit out a tiny trickle of blood onto the floor.

"What the hells, Hux?", he yelled angrily. "What was THAT for?!"

"Because you did that on purpose! You KNOW how I pride myself on how my men see me, Ren! What the Kriff do you think they were thinking, seeing me sit on your lap during a meeting?!"

"I know what they were thinking. I heard them. The word 'cute' came up quite often, actually. And I'd have to agree. Sometimes, you're downright adorable."

Hux ignored this and glared at him, gathering up his papers.

"Is this what our marriage is going to be like?", he muttered, mostly to himself. "Tricks and torments?"

Ren shrugged his shoulders playfully. "Nothing wrong with having a little fun with each other, is there? I mean, we're going to be stuck like this for an entire year, we may as well have some entertainment."

"If you feel like starting a war, Kylo Ren, I think it's only fair I give you warning, you're messing with the wrong person. Because you won't win this one."

Ren smirked at the confident tone of Hux's voice.

"If that's a challenge, I accept," he told him, just as confidently.

Hux nodded, then leaned over him and kissed the corner of Ren's lips, his own lips touching the light blood that had pooled there.

"Your blood--it's quite sweet. I'm going to have to punch you more often," Hux said with a grin.

He turned to leave, and right when he got to the door he twisted his head back and said,

"See you at home, darling."

"Looking forward to it, honeybunch," Ren shot back, a big grin plastered over his face as well.


	3. Chapter 3

The war of wills between the two men continued, with each thinking up daily, new ways to annoy and torture each other.

Hux had been correct in his prior statement to Ren that he wasn't a force to be taken lightly; but then again, neither was Ren.

Ren didn't quite match the General in terms of brains, but he overruled him in matters of the Force, which he used quite frequently to his advantage.

Hux found himself constantly tripping over objects that weren't there, and 'misplacing' things he hadn't lost. And his meetings had gone from the classically boring affairs to exciting events, as everyone who attended (save for Hux) couldn't wait to see what odd, spectacular things would happen next.

Papers levitated, chairs lifted off the ground with people still in them. Once the General's greatcoat had flown from his body and circled around the room like a wingless bird, slapping the faces of random people and knocking over water glasses until Hux pleaded with Ren to stop.

Which he had, chalking up Hux's begging to a personal victory.

Eventually word got to Snoke about the abhorrent unprofessional nature of these meetings, and one day, in the middle of a melee of things moving and flying and Hux yelling, Snoke himself walked into the conference room, and everything suddenly dropped back down to where it had been.

Snoke went and stood quietly in between the chairs of Hux and Ren, and the rest of the meeting went without a hitch.

After that, Ren silently agreed to lay off of Hux's meetings, and find other ways to get under his skin.

But as hard as Ren fought with him, Hux pushed back just as hard.

Once, right before Ren had stepped into the refresher shower, Hux had taken his bottle of shampoo, emptied it out, and filled it with a particularly strong hair dye.

Blonde hair dye.

Ren hadn't bothered to look in the mirror before leaving their quarters, and probably would have gone all day unaware of the change, if not for Snoke asking him whether he had lost his mind.

When he had looked in the mirror on the opposite side of Snoke's chambers, his scream of rage had been so loud that the storm troopers heard it all the way out on the training grounds.

Hux had come away from that incident with a black eye, a bruised jaw, and a smile that wouldn't go away any time he thought of Ren's blonde hair making it's way down the hallways.

"Relax," he had told the angry knight, as Ren laboriously applied the thick black dye to his golden tresses, "Now you're more like your grandfather than ever."

At one point, Hux had even gone so as to procure a book on lightsaber construction, and, after careful studying of Ren's, "fixed" it for him so that the blade only shot out of a singular hole, instead of the three he had fashioned the saber for. 

Ren had been both furious, and impressed with Hux, for that one. He had to spend hours recalibrating his saber, which he did sitting on the floor as Hux sat across the room in a chair, reading a book and whistling obnoxiously.

Towards the end of the week, one evening, Hux came back home earlier than normal, and told Ren to put on "some decent clothes".

"What for?", he asked, suspiciously.

"Captain Phasma and Lieutenant Mitaka have invited us to dinner with them off-base, and I accepted for us. We're leaving in an hour, so start getting ready."

Ren groaned. He hated doing anything social.

"Can't you just tell them I'm sick or something?", he whined at Hux.

"No. The only way you're getting out of this is if you died, and unfortunately I don't have the time to kill you right now, so--"

"Fine. But I'll make you regret this later."

Hux rolled his eyes, and came to stand in front of Ren, arms folded across his chest. "I don't doubt that you will," he said, slowly, "But whatever nonsense you have planned for me, save it for when we get home, NOT at the restaurant."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"Because this is really important to Phasma; she hardly ever gets a chance to go off-base for leisure. And you won't ruin her night for her by causing chaos. Understood?"

"Fine," Ren muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"So how about we call a ceasefire, at least until after dinner, alright? Truce?" Hux asked, holding out his hand.

"Truce," Ren replied grudgingly, taking Hux's hand with a pout on his face. He had had SO MANY ideas for how to get under Hux's skin at dinner. Bribing the chef to sprinkle Colo oil over whatever Hux ordered, as he was allergic to Colo fish; using the Force to tip over his drink, 'accidentally' knocking down the candles to start the table on fire--there was a world of endless possibilities. And now he couldn't act on any of them.

Which, he reluctantly admitted to himself, was probably just as well. No matter how intense his feud with Hux, he didn't want to ruin Phasma and Mitaka's night, too. Well, maybe not PHASMA'S, anyway. He really disliked Lieutenant Mitaka, and knew that the man felt the same towards him. As pretty as Phasma was, as smart, Ren couldn't help but feel that she could do much, MUCH better than the gangly, weasel-faced man; but hey, who was Ren to judge?

After all, look at who HE was married to.

But even as he thought the words, he internally reprimanded himself. His annoying nature aside, Hux was actually not that bad looking. Even--handsome, in an odd kind of way.

And Ren couldn't help but notice how good Hux looked right now, as he got ready for the evening. Instead of his usual First Order uniform, he had on a pair of black slacks, and a long sleeved button up shirt, white, that fit pleasingly around his slender form.

Ren stopped looking and tended to his own shirt, as he struggled to correctly button it. It was hard, and his fingers were impatient and clumsy.

After a few minutes of listening to Ren mutter and curse, Hux came over with a sigh and batted Ren's hands away, buttoning his shirt himself.

Ren stood still, feeling awkward with Hux so close to him.

"I hate this shirt," Ren said, to fill the silence.

Hux sighed in exasperation, as he continued to straighten and button.

"If you hate this thing so much, why wear it?", he asked, as he fit the brass into the correct openings.

Ren scowled, and looked at Hux as if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Because of you."

"What?"

"Because. Of. You.", Ren repeated, haltingly. "You've said before that you like it when I wear blue, and this is the only thing I have in blue, so . . . "

"When did I say that?", Hux asked him, confused.

"Last year, when we both had to attend that formal dinner with Snoke. Remember? I wore the dark blue overcoat, and you told me that the color looked good on me?"

Hux said nothing, but he smiled a little. It was odd, that Ren remembered something Hux had commented on what felt like so long ago. Also odd that he cared enough about Hux's opinion to change his style of preferred solid black, if only for one evening. By now Hux had finished buttoning Ren's shirt, but he hands were still holding on to it.

"Thats--that's very _sweet_ , Ren," he told him, not knowing what else to say.

Ren's face turned red, and he tried to pull away. "Not a big deal," he mumbled, not looking Hux in the eye. "Now let go of me."

Hux let go, and went back over to the mirror, combing his hair. He was aware that Ren was watching him, and it seemed to Hux that he almost wanted to say something else. Almost. After a few moments Hux said, softly,

"Are you ready?"

\---

Later that evening, as they were getting undressed and ready for bed, Hux turned towards Ren abruptly and asked the question that was burning up his mind.

""Why did you do that?"

"Do what?", Ren asked, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it to the floor.

"With the waitress. Why did you DO that?"

Ren shrugged and climbed into his side of the bed. "I was bored."

"Bored," Hux repeated, looking at him critically. "That's it? You nearly broke the poor girl's leg, because you were bored?"

Up until the very tail end of their night out, Ren had kept his word, and behaved himself at dinner.

The restaurant that Phasma had chosen was one of those brightly lit, tastefully decorated and fancy ones, where candles adorned all the tables, and a live band played soft music in the background.

Ren had clearly been uncomfortable in such an atmosphere, but he dealt with it as best he could, making an effort to be politely vocal with the other members at the table, and to eat with infinitely more decorum and manners than the way he snarfed down food at home.

He had even been friendly with Lieutenant Mitaka, whom Hux (correctly) suspected that Ren didn't care for, much to the relief of Phasma.

The menu had been written out in some language that wasn't Basic, and nobody at the table could read a word of it except for Hux, who had been educated in multiple species language forms as a child.

He told Ren that he would order for him, and Ren had seemed pleasantly surprised that the dish Hux picked for him was actually something that he enjoyed.

And then came dessert.  
And with it, trouble.

A different waitress had come out to table their dessert order, and once again Hux spoke for the group, ordering them something that was akin to cake, with ice cream. The waitress had been chatty and friendly, and Hux had been friendly right back, smiling at the vivacious young girl, joking with her, laughing--

\-- and, totally unaware that Ren had been watching him, with quite an angry expression on his face. He was clenching his water glass hard enough to break it, and if any of the others, particularly Hux, had been paying attention to him, they would have seen that he was in the beginning stages of one of his fits.

By the time the waitress left the table to return to the kitchen, Ren had outwardly calmed himself, but behind his serene facade, his mind had been boiling over with an idea.

Subtly, slowly, so that no one else had seen him do it, he levitated a bottle of seasoning oil from the empty table nearest the kitchen door, and poured it out carefully on the floor. All the while he did this, he maintained eye contact and conversation with the others, so that no one would suspect anything.

He sat up straight as the waitress came back through the door, his eyes fixated on the oily spot on the floor. In her arms was a tray, on which the four plates of their dessert sat.

She stepped down on the spot, and immediately went skidding and yelling across the room, the tray flying out of her arms, and she herself landing in a hard crash into the wall.

Several concerned customers rushed to her aid, including all four members of the First Order table. Phasma helped the girl into a sitting position and Mitaka went into the kitchen, demanding that emergency services be called to take her to a Medical Facility. She had hyperextended her leg during her slide, and was holding it gingerly, crying with pain.

Hux, however, was looking at the floor by the kitchen door, where several cooks had noticed the oil spill and were cleaning it up.

He looked at Ren, then at the oil, and back again. And Ren knew, he KNEW that Hux was aware of what had caused that girl's accident. His mind gave him away. Phasma and Mitaka were in the dark about the whole incident, believing it to be an accident, but Hux wasn't fooled that easily.

Now he stood over Ren as the latter still refused to take responsibility for his act, behaving as a child like who had been caught stealing sweets from his mother's kitchen.

Ren pulled the covers over his head, growling "Leave me alone, Hux; I'm tired."

Hux ignored him and sat down on the bed, yanking the covers back from over Ren's head.

"Not until you tell me the truth. Was it--it wasn't because you didn't like that I was talking to her, was it?"

Before he could control himself, Ren blurted out "Talking? More like flirting. I was fully anticipating that you'd ask her on a date."

Hux bit down hard on his lip, to keep in the laugh that wanted to come out. 

"Don't tell me that made you--jealous?", he asked him, cautiously.

Ren turned over on his side, facing away from Hux. 

"I told you, I'm tired," Ren repeated.

Hux sat quietly for a while, and then, unexpectedly, he reached out with timid fingers and patted Ren's back.

"I, uh, I apologize, if my talking to her in some way made you feel bad. I wasn't 'flirting', I was being friendly," he said, amazed at how odd it felt to actually be saying sorry for something so trivial, and to be saying it to REN, of all people. He continued, his voice taking on a teasing lilt as he said, "Besides, I'm not looking for any more 'relationships'. I happen to be a married man, thank you very much. Maybe not happily married, but definitely married."

Ren nodded, still not turning around to face him. He felt embarrassed, at the unnecessarily big deal he had made of the situation; embarrassed, and confused.

Why was he feeling anything _at all,_ concerning what Hux did?

"You know," Ren said, "If you were truly feeling 'sorry', you'd give a lot more convincing apology."

He shrugged Hux's hand off his shoulder and twisted around to face him. "And you could certainly put your hand to better use."

"W-what?", Hux asked, his face reddening.

"I mean, we never officially consummated this 'marriage', Armitage."

"Ren--are you, uh, are you being serious? Because I honestly can't tell."

Ren took in the surprised look on Hux's face, and internally sighed.

"I was kidding, of course," he said, gruffly. "Now stop bothering me and go to sleep, already!"

With that, Ren turned back over on his side and closed his eyes.

Hux sat a few minutes longer, thinking over Ren's joking proposition ((which hadn't sounded like a 'joke' AT ALL)) then stood back up to finish putting on his pajamas.

When he finally crawled into bed and laid down, right away, the full water glass that he kept on the nightstand next to his side flew directly at him, sloshing into his face and the front of his shirt.

He jumped out of bed, sputtering and cursing, and ran into the refresher for a towel.

"Maker, I hate you, Ren!", he called out to him from behind the closed door.

Ren chuckled, and settled down to bed for real this time.

"I know," he whispered, still laughing softly to himself, before sinking into sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Another night, another thousand and one things for Hux to be thinking about at once as he listened to his husband snore beside him.

He envied Ren his easy sleep patterns. It seemed to Hux that Ren could fall asleep in the middle of a blaster battle--and would probably stay that way until morning.

Hux, on the other hand, would lay awake for hours, thinking about the previous day, planning ahead for the next, and suffering from the countless things he worried over in-between.

He was laying there in the middle of mentally planning out a speech he had to make to a group of graduating recruits-into-stormtroopers, when, once again, Ren rolled over onto Hux's arm, and stayed there, snoring fitfully.

This time, instead of trying to move him, Hux just laid there and . . . enjoyed, the feeling of Ren's body so close to his. As much as the dark haired man annoyed him, as much as he wanted to choke the life out of him sometimes--his presence was actually quite soothing to Hux. After years of being alone, with work taking up the number one priority in his life, it was a pleasant change to have someone to come home to. Someone to talk to. Even if that someone was more often than not doing horrible things, like 'accidentally' spilling water over his meeting notes, or replacing all the important files on his data-pad with obnoxiously cute pictures of baby rathtars.

Before he could stop himself, he was reaching out with the fingers of his other hand and running them through Ren's soft dark hair.

Hux leaned over slightly to look at Ren, really look at him, as he did this. For as long as he had known this man, and even being married to him, he had never taken a long, uninterrupted look at Ren's face.

He found himself, absurdly, wanting to trace out pictures across Ren's face in the spaces between the small dark moles. He could see numerous star constellations, just waiting to be etched out.

And his lips . . .

So red, so full. Hux had kissed those lips once, that day so many months ago when they had had sex with each other; but he hardly remembered the experience, as at the time he had been more focused on other things.

Staring at them now, he found himself wondering what it would be like to kiss them again. A slow kiss. A soft kiss. A kiss, period.

Some small but vocal part of himself was watching the way Hux was stroking the sleeping Ren's hair, and was hearing the things Hux was thinking about Ren's face((lips)), and was horrified. Even more horrified when that part saw Hux leaning towards those lips, closer and closer and . . . 

When Hux finally realized what he was doing, he snapped himself out of it long enough to give a mighty heave and successfully push Ren off of him and back to his own side of the bed.

Which was better.  
Except.

The arm that Ren had been laying across now felt achingly, unpleasantly cold.

\---

Hux and Ren were standing in the ship hangar bay, watching as Ren's ship was loaded down with an assortment of supplies that he would need, in order to go on his latest mission.

He would be gone for one, possibly two weeks this time. They were planning a raid on a planet in the next system, one that was vocally opposed to the First Order, and had been rumored to have been making plans to commit a full scale attack on them.

Normally, a planet as small in size as the one in question would be overlooked, or not taken seriously; however, the past year had taught them, Snoke especially, that sometimes even the smallest of threats could turn out to be catastrophic events.

So they were sending Ren and a large group of stormtroopers out, to launch a preemptive strike on them. They would orbit the planet incognito, under a cloaking device for several days. A small team of troopers would be sent on a reconnaissance mission, to assess where the biggest threats lay, what the enemies defense consisted of, etc. Once those men returned, Ren and the troopers would attack, and hopefully obliterate the enemy.

Hux was busily going over the mission details in his datapad, and offering his advice to Ren on how they should approach their task.

Eventually, Ren got tired of Hux, and said, holding out his hands,

"Alright, already, Hux! I KNOW! This isn't my first time planning an attack, you know!"

"Experience doesn't necessarily make you an expert, Ren. Need I remind you of Mission RE-56, last year?"

Ren scowled and looked away. "That was different. I had no idea those Ewoks would be as skilled of fighters as they were!"

Hux shook his head and started to laugh. 

"Nearly killed by a bunch of tiny, furry beasts," he said, still laughing.

Ren's scowl deepened.

"We won, didn't we?"

"Yes, yes you did," Hux had to agree with him. "I STILL don't think it was necessary for you to roast that big gray one, though."

Ren smiled and patted his stomach. "But that was delicious."

Now both of them laughed, before one of the officers accompanying Ren came up to tell him that the ship was ready to be boarded.

Hux looked at Ren as the officer left. 

"Remember to send out your daily comm messages to Snoke and myself, so we're kept updated on your status. And don't forget to engage the cloaking device BEFORE you get in the planet's orbit. And don't--"

"OKAY, Hux!", Ren exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "Maker, you're turning into a real nag, you know that?"

Hux ignored him, then said, "Above all else, be careful, and take care of yourself, okay? Come back in one piece."

"If I don't," Ren said, teasing him, "Promkse me that you'll have my body burned on a pyre, like Vader's; and then afterwards you'll add my helmet to his on your table."

Hux shuddered at that. 

"I'm sorry, Ren, but if that ever happened, both you AND grandpa are going helmet first into the trash compactor."

"Fine," Ren said, signing. Before he left he turned back toward Hux.

"You're not going to kiss me goodbye?", Ren asked him, in a voice he MEANT to come across as joking, but to Hux, sounded quite serious.

So Hux relented half-way and quickly kissed Ren's cheek, before giving him a shove toward the ship.

"Go," he said, with a small smile, "And for Maker's sake, don't come back until you're less annoying."

"Not happening anytime soon, General."

"Then don't come back," Hux said jokingly, watching as Ren and the stormtroopers boarded the ship and took off into the bright sky.

\---

Ren was gone for over a week.

And Hux was worried.

A few days ago, Snoke had called Hux and two of his Lieutenants into his office, to tell them that they had stopped receiving transmissions from Ren's ship, and there was a possibility that it had been shot down or overtaken by the enemy.

There was even a small, unlikely, yet still /possible/ possibility that Ren and his men were--dead.

Dead.

The word had such a shocking, ugly sound to it that Hux could barely wrap his mind around it.

Dead.

Snoke reassured them that most likely, nothing that serious was wrong. But, seeing as how Hux was General, it was his responsibility to put into effect contingency plans for the First Order, to replace those lost.

The stormtroopers that Ren had left with, they were easily replaceable. There were hundreds, thousands of them exactly alike, all ready to step into their fallen comrades shoes.

But Ren-

Ren was different. Ren was unique, and talented, and, if he truly WAS dead, replacing him would be a lot more difficult than the men in white.

Nevertheless, Hux put together a list for the Supreme Leader, of places throughout the galaxy where possible other Force-sensitive users could be found. 

He sent the list to Snoke, then went back to his quarters, to sit, and to think.

Hux had ample opportunity to enjoy the peace and quiet left in Ren's absence, but for some reason, he felt more unsettled and restless than ever before.

Until that moment, Hux had been blithely unaware of just how much he had gotten used to Ren being around him, in the evenings.

The way he ate and spilled crumbs all over the floor.

The way he would stand over Hux's shoulder and purposefully ask annoying questions while Hux tried to plan out his schedule for the next day.

Even the (still) creepy way Ren would sit and hold a conversation with his grandfather's helmet.

Hux sat and stared at the thing on his coffee table now, idly wondering to himself what might happen, if HE started talking to it.

In the end, he decided against it.

After all, what if it answered back? Hux wasn't prepared for that possibility, nor for the heart attack he knew would follow such a thing.

A message flashing on his data-pad snapped him out of his daze, and he picked the thing up with shaking fingers.

:: General,

Mission VR-91 Success. Enemy destroyed. Ship 3225 temporarily lost transmission signal, but all well. Details to follow. ::

Attached was a long report about what had happened, and what had been accomplished. But Hux couldn't even look at it. Relief was flooding his body in a powerful wave, making him giddy and dizzy at the same time.

Lost communication.

That was it.

Ren's ship had simply lost communication. He wasn't dead, or injured. The blasted ship had just been communicational-disabled. 

With a renewed sense of energy,  
he began to clean up the quarters that he had let go to hell for the past few days, singing softly to himself as he did so.

\---

When Ren walked through the door, Hux felt as if all the nerves exploded in his body at the same time. He felt himself shaking all over, completely unable to control it.

He walked over to Ren and threw his arms around him, hard; driving him back a few steps and hitting the wall with the intensity of the hug.

Ren was, of course, understandably confused.

"Hux, what--"

Hux interrupted him with another surprise, this time by leaning up and kissing him full on the lips. It wasn't just an innocent peck, either; if was as if Hux was trying to pull Ren's life-force out through his mouth.

When Hux finally let go of him and stepped back, Ren was at a loss for words.

So Hux spoke instead.

"I'm sorry, it's just: I thought that you might be dead, and that bothered me. It SCARED me, because all I could think about was that the last thing I said to you was I hoped you wouldn't come back, and I know I was joking at the time but I couldn't get it out of my head, that I had actually SAID that, and then Snoke told us--he, he told us, that--"

And Hux surprised Ren for the third time that night, by bursting into tears. By now Ren was at a complete loss of what to say, or do. The only reason Ren could think of for Hux acting this way was that, perhaps, he had been drinking; and he looked behind the crying man for a bottle (or several bottles) somewhere on the table.

None were in sight.

Ren hesitated, then he pulled Hux gently into his arms, patting him on the back.

"It's okay," he said softly, soothingly. "I'm alive, you're alive, and we're both here. We're okay. I'M okay. So calm down, alright?"

Little by little, in Ren's arms, Hux got himself under control. Yet even after the tears stopped, he took quite a while to remove his face from Ren's chest. He was beyond embarrassed; in fact, he was downright mortified, at his own behavior.

He needed to save face, to go back to the distant, grumpy Hux that Ren had been expecting to greet him when he walked through the door. So he pulled away and wiped away his remaining tears with the edge of his finger; then, he looked critically at Ren and said "My goodness, Ren, you look like you haven't seen the inside of a refresher in days. Is the one on your ship broken or what?"

Ren looked down at himself and laughed. "Sorry; the last few days were really hectic, didn't really have the time for it.

By now Hux had moved across the room and was standing by the opposite wall, leaning against it with his arms folded across his chest.

"Well, you have all the time in the world now. Go," he said, tilting his head in the direction of the refresher. In truth, Ren didn't need it that bad; he was only mildly dirty. But Hux wanted (needed) him to not be there, for a little while. His presence was overwhelming Hux in unexpected ways (as was proven by the unprecedented physical affection Hux had given him a few minutes ago) and it made the General feel odd. Off.

"Okay," Ren said, and the look on his face told Hux that he felt uncomfortable as well. He turned and was halfway to the refresher, before he stopped and turned back around, facing Hux.

"Before I forget, I have something for you."

He dug around inside his pocket and pulled out a small velvet bag. Something clinked inside.

"So I got to thinking; I know we're only still married for another, let's see, another 7 months, now? But I thought, why not really play the part?"

He reached inside the bag and pulled out two silver rings. They were thin and heavy, and there appeared to be little pictures carved into each one.

Ren lifted up the surprised Hux's hand, and slowly slid one of the rings onto it. 

"Yours has the sun," Ren said quietly. "The stone in the middle is a ruby. You know, because of your red hair."

Next he put on his own ring. "Mine is the moon, with an onyx stone. Represents the dark side and all," he said.

Hux held up his hand and looked at the ring sitting snugly around his finger. It was beautiful. It was perfect. It was --sweet.

So sweet, for Ren to have even thought of him, on his dangerous mission; that he would risk being spotted early by the enemy just to procure these rings for the two of them.

Stupid, but so unbelievably SWEET.

Hux didn't know what to say, he was so taken off guard by his unexpected gift.

Then Ren surprised him even more, by putting his hand on Hux's shoulder and kissing his cheek. It was warm, and gentle, and completely unlike Ren.

"Do you like it?", Ren asked him  
anxiously, and it took Hux a second to realize that he was talking about the ring, and not the kiss.

"I do," Hux answered back, quietly. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

Ren nodded and smiled. 

"Okay, I'll go hit the 'fresher now," he said, walking away from Hux and into the little door.

He was almost completely done with his shower before Hux had even moved from where he had been standing, still staring at his ring.


	5. Chapter 5

Phasma stepped into the office, looking both excited and nervous.

"General Hux, do you have a minute?"

"Of course," Hux said, putting down his datapad and sitting up straight. "What can I help you with?"

Hux and Ren were sitting in Hux's office at the end of the work day. Hux was finishing up his notes on a meeting that had taken place earlier, and Ren, finished with his training, decided to sit down and wait for Hux to be done, rather than go home alone.

Things had changed, just slightly, between them, since the day a few weeks ago when Ren had come home from his mission to an oddly emotional Hux. Since that day, both men had more or less laid off the practical jokes for one another, and were making a bit more of an effort to get along.

Which wasn't to say that things weren't still somewhat strained and difficult between them.

But now, whereas before when they had problems with each other and responded by violence or anger, they took the time to actually LISTEN to the grievances of the other person, and resolve them as calmly as possible.

Things on the physical affection front had picked up a bit, too; but only by the smallest amount. There was still no kissing behind occasional cheek pecks, but now each found that they enjoyed giving the other hugs at odd times of the day. Small, inconsequential gestures that slowly, slowly made them more comfortable being around each other. And being--married.

The word had an odd feel to it, because in both of their minds, it was simply a temporary state of being. No matter how badly each one may, MAY have wanted to push beyond the tentative boundaries of their for-the-now marriage, each told themselves that it would be pointless, to go further into a situation that was set to end in a couple of months, anyway.

But what neither knew about the other, was that each man had done some deep thinking, in regards to their 'marriage'; and their secret feelings on the matter were nearly identical.

But they pushed these thoughts aside and continued to be more open with each other, and really enjoy the time they spent togeher, whether at home, on base, on the Finalizer--

\--or in Hux's office, like they were right now.

Phasma came further into the room and took the seat next to Ren. Ren had tilted his head and was looking at her strangely, as if he saw something that Hux couldn't see, but Hux ignored this and focused his attention on the lady in the room.

"I was wondering if it would be possible for you to clear a week off for me, in the coming month."

"I'm sure I can," Hux said, opening his datapad and scrolling through schedules until he came to Phasma's name. "I can just fill in your time slots with the other captains. Is the third week of the month good?"

Phasma nodded happily. "That's perfect. But I have one other thing to ask; is it possible to clear Lieutenant Mitaka's schedule for that week, as well?"

Ren snickered, unable to help it, and Hux shot him a stern look. "That might require some serious doing. May I be so bold as to ask WHY?"

Smiling, Phasma pulled off her left glove, and held out her hand towards him. A pretty gold ring with a large white diamond shone under the dim lights.

"Mitaka and I are engaged, and want to be married next month."

Hux smiled, and came from around his desk to hug the glowing captain.

"Congratulations," he said, letting go so that Ren could hug her as well. "Don't worry about anything; I'll have yours and his schedules completely cleared that week, so you have all the time in world to focus on your day."

Phasma thanked him, and launched into a small explanation of the simple ceremony they both wanted to have, and where they might go for a short honeymoon.

As she talked, Ren listened--and couldn't help but feel a bit envious. He might hate Mitaka, but there was no denying that he truly made Phasma happy, and that they were really in love with each other. Ren watched Hux's face as Phasma spoke, and felt a kind of deep-down longing that he hadn't been aware of the presence of, before. And of course, there was that OTHER thing--but he would tell Hux about that later on.

\---

About an hour later found them  
both back at their quarters, unusually quiet and thoughtful.

"Are you hungry?", Hux asked Ren, opening the conservator door. "I can make you something."

Ren shook his head.

"I don't know why, but I just feel a bit tired, all of a sudden. I think I'm  
just going to go to bed early."

Hux nodded. "I feel the same. I'm going to take a shower; I'll be in there soon."

Ren nodded and went into the bedroom, taking off his robes as Hux went into the refresher. He sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at the nightstand. He felt--confused. Tired, melancholy, restless, and confused. And he didn't know why.

When Hux came out of the refresher and into the bedroom, Ren could tell by his face that he was feeling the exact same way.

"I wonder why Phasma and Mitaka are getting married so quickly," Hux was asking out-loud, mostly to himself, as he changed into pajamas. "Most engagements last at least a few months, but they're getting married right away. Why?"

"I know why. She's pregnant."

Hux looked at him in amazement.

"Did she tell you that?"

"No."

"Then how--?"

"It's her life-Force. Before it was one, now its two. Two very separate and distinct auras coming from her. I imagine that's why she doesn't want us to say anything to Snoke just yet; because he would sense it right away, too."

"Hmmmm," Hux said, biting his lip in thought. "That's interesting. Pregnant. Well, I won't say anything to her until she tells us officially, but I'm happy for her. She's such a sweet woman, I think she'll be an excellent mother."

"I know she will. Just, I don't know. I still don't understand what it is she sees in Mitaka."

Hux shrugged, sitting down on the bed. 

"Love is like that, sometimes, I guess," he said, absently scrolling through his datapad. "Sometimes, nobody but the two people IN a relationship, can make any sense out of it."

Now he looked up at Ren, and said, somewhat timidly,

"I imagine that people probably wondered the same thing, when -- when YOUR parents got married."

Ren sighed and closed his eyes, leaning against the pillows. He tried to avoid thinking of Han and Leia at all costs, but now, Hux's question was forcing him to take an in-depth look at the man and woman he had spent his youth with.

There had never been any denying, not even to Ren, as hardened as he strived to be, that his parents had been truly, deeply, head over heels in love with each other. They butted heads endlessly, argued about the most arbitrary of things . . . but Ren didn't believe for a second that a stronger marriage existed in all the galaxy.

And it was true, they hadn't 'fit' together at first.

A princess.  
A smuggler.

A woman who fought to protect everyone versus a man who believed looking out for anyone other than yourself was pure madness.

Two different worlds, two very different outtakes on life.

But against all odds, they had been brought together by fate during the Galactic war, and hadn't strayed from each other's side since.

That is, until--until Ren tore their little family apart, first by abandoning them to join Snoke, then brutally murdering his father at a moment when the older man was genuinely trying to help his tortured, misguided son.

He knew, down in his heart, that his mother had forgiven him for his heinous act, as impossible as that should have been. One day, some day, he would seek her out and apologize in person. For Han. For everything.

He only wished he could forgive himself, as easily as he knew his mother had forgiven him.

Hux was asking him another question, but Ren had been too distracted to hear it. He opened his eyes--

\--and was amazed to find that tears were coursing slowly down his face, leaving twin glistening trails down his cheeks.

Hux was saying something else to him now, but Ren STILL couldn't hear what it was, as the tears were coming harder and harder. This was incredible. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually cried, or allowed himself to think about his parents for as long as he just had.

He was just barely conscious of Hux's arms going around him, holding him, rocking him.

He WAS aware, however, of the moment when Hux's lips had pressed into his own, so lightly he had hardly felt it, but powerful enough to send an electric jolt through his body nonetheless.

"I'm sorry," Hux was saying as he pulled his mouth away. "I shouldn't have--"'

And then Ren took over, his own mouth crushing Hux's with eager intensity, all of the pent-up frustration and physical desire of the past few months unleashing itself in a frightening torrent on to the still-holding-back General.

"No, no, we shouldn't--", Hux tried to protest against Ren's kisses, his body betraying his words as it refused to separate itself from Ren's.

"Tell me that you don't want this," Ren whispered, persistently kissing Hux's neck. "Tell me, and I'll stop, and leave you alone."

There was a loud, insistent humming in the room now, something that sounded almost like gusts of air. Hux's brain idly wondered if the cooling system in the room had gone haywire, when he realized, with a shock, that HE was making those noises.

He was letting out a low string of whimperings and moanings and cursing, and, although he now recognized the source of the sounds, was unable to make himself stop.

"I don't want this," Hux said, breathing heavily. "I don't want YOU," he said, while at the same time his traitorous hands moved to Ren's shirt, pulling it over his head and tossing it to the floor. He resumed kissing Ren as he frantically unbuttoned his own shirt, nearly tearing it from his body as Ren leaned into him, pushing him back, softly, into the bed. He climbed over him, his knees on either side of Hux's hips, his weight firm and oddly pleasant on Hux's body.

"Don't want--", Hux still tried to insist; only now his hands were on Ren's pants, trying desperately to pull them down past his thighs.

Ren stopped kissing him, and looked him in the eye.

"You're lying."

"I know," Hux said, grabbing the back of Ren's head and smashing their lips into each other once more.

\---

Unlike their first time, which had been all fast, desperate fumbling, this time was slower. Sweeter. Each taking their time and really getting in-tune with every inch of each other's bodies.

It scared both of them, quite a bit. Ren could feel the Force flowing through him as he made love to the redhead, ebbing through his blood in powerful waves, and he was afraid that, since they were connected, Hux would feel it, too, and perhaps be hurt by it.

But that didn't seem to be the case at all.

Hux's skin was sensitive and alive beneath Ren's hands, responding to the touch of his gentle fingers, so gentle, as if Ren were afraid that Hux might break. He closed his eyes and felt every motion of their bodies as they flowed together, clumsy and hesitant and at first, but rapidly falling into a rhythmic harmony with each other. 

In their lovemaking was the new, almost unbearable sensation of being two separate people, and the incredulity over the closeness of the moment and wondering how to make the two, into one. Ren could no longer tell whether he was hearing Hux's heartbeat, or his own. Hux wasn't sure whether the rapid pulse he could feel in his wrists and neck was his own, or Ren's.

Hux had freckles all over his pale body that Ren tasted, like the sweet nectar of a guava fruit, with his long tongue. Ren had scars adorning his muscular abs and torso, and Hux would know no peace until he had kissed and caressed every single one.

Whenever Ren felt that Hux might attempt to get up and leave him, he would grab his wrists and lace their fingers together, pressing Hux's down firmly into the silky sheets, holding him there, a willing hostage. 

And Hux couldn't stop him.   
And he didn't WANT to stop him.

Hux didn't know how not to love the feel of the lips that kept on kissing, the body that was rising and falling like the wave of an ocean over his own body. He couldn't stop this if the Order came under attack, or the living room exploded into star fire; he wouldn't have been able to pull away from underneath Ren even if Snoke himself came in and demanded it.

They brought each other to nearly-painful ecstasy again and again, until at last, exhausted, they lay loose-limbed next to each other.

They were contentedly silent for a few moments, then Hux leaned up and over Ren's chest, kissing slowly around the corners of his mouth before stealing the sweet taste from his lips.

When he was through, Ren said, in a sarcastic voice, "You were right, I guess. You really DIDN'T want me, at all."

Hux punched his shoulder before laying his head down on it.

"You have got to be the most crass, rude, obnoxiously insufferable person I've ever met before."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Maybe so; but you married me. What does that say about YOU?"

Hux closed his eyes, and laid his hand on Ren's chest. He could feel  
his heartbeat there, pumping calmly up and down, and it soothed him.

"I suppose it says that I'm an idiot," Hux finally answered his question, his eyes still closed, "Because l'm fairly certain that I actually love you, as awful as you are."

Ren was silent, but he suddenly felt as though he might cry, again. After he had composed himself, he said, softly,

"Then I must be a bigger idiot, because you're the worst person in the galaxy, but I'm 'fairly certain' that I love you, too."

Hux opened his eyes and tilted his head, looking up at Ren.

"Really?"

"Really."

They were quiet for a little longer, then Hux cleared his throat and said, gruffly, 

"So I guess that means I'm cancelling our appointment at the divorce hearing in a few months?"

Ren looked at him, a serious expression on his face.

"You're positive this is what you want? Because if we do this, REALLY do this, we're not doing this half-way. If you want this, you better want it forever, because once you say you do, I'm not letting you leave me. Ever. So you'd better be SURE."

Hux looked back at him, just as seriously.

"I will never let you go," he said slowly, emphasizing each word. "I promise. And if I ever break that promise, you have my permission to stab me with your lightsaber. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Hux leaned up and kissed him again, this time playfully nipping at Ren's lower lip before pulling away.

"Good. Glad we're on the same page. Now let's get to sleep; we're both off tomorrow, so we've got to go find Phasma and Mitaka a wedding gift."

Ren groaned and pushed his face against the pillow.

"They JUST told us they were getting engaged, Hux! The wedding isn't for another whole month; aren't you jumping the gun a little bit?"

"You know I like planning ahead."

Ren sighed. "Fine. But we won't have to go far; I know exactly what to get Phasma: a bag. To put over Mitaka's head. We'll be doing her and everybody else a huge favor."

Hux rolled his eyes and smiled.

"GoodNIGHT, Kylo."

"Hux?"

"What?"

"Can we get a pet?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's enough trouble to look after and pick up behind YOU."

"Come on, Hux, it'll be fun. Something harmless, like a fish, or a cat. Please?"

Hux turned over and yawned. "We'll talk about it in the morning, okay? Now go to bed; I'm tired."

Ren was quiet for so long that Hux thought he HAD gone to sleep. And then, suddenly, Hux's glass of water flew up and, in a move annoyingly reminiscent of the past, splashed cold water directly into his face.

He sat up and looked at Ren incredulously.

Ren merely grinned and shrugged his shoulders innocently.

"You look wide awake to me. Now let's talk about that pet."

Hux shook his head and, in spite of himself, started to laugh as he groped his shirt off of the floor and used it to wipe his dripping face.

"Maker, Kylo Ren, I truly hate you, did you know that?"

"I know," Ren said, leaning over to kiss him. "Same."

"Now, I was thinking, if we get a cat, I think Anakin might be a good name for --


End file.
